Ed Nicholas is an Executive Director with Tribe, heading up operations in Australia and leading Tribe’s development business since 2016. Ed joined Tribe after eight years with Mubadala Investment Company in Abu Dhabi, where he was General Counsel, Industry. He has a strong background in corporate advisory, project finance and M&A, having led transactions across Europe, MENA and South-East Asia. Prior to Mubadala, Ed held legal roles with BlueScope Steel, DFDL Mekong (Phnom Penh, Cambodia) and Clayton Utz (Sydney). Since joining Tribe, Ed has led the development of the A$511m East Rockingham Resource Recovery Facility, a 300,000 tpa energy-from-waste project developed by Tribe in partnership with Hitachi Zosen INOVA and New Energy Corporation. Construction commenced in January 2020 and commercial operations are targeted for Q4 2022. Tribe retains an active interest in the project through a 40% stake jointly held with Masdar, the Abu Dhabi Government’s clean energy investment arm. In November 2020, Masdar and Tribe announced the formation of a new joint venture vehicle targeting greenfield energy from waste development across Australia. The JV is now working with Opal Australian Paper and Suez to develop the Maryvale EfW project adjacent to Opal’s paper mill. The Maryvale consortium is developing a 325,000 tpa EfW plant, targeting financial close and commencement of construction in Q4 this year.

David has over 10 years’ experience in the waste sector and over 30 years’ experience within mechanical and civil engineering and project management in the UK, Australia, Middle East and beyond. David spends regular periods of the year supporting and delivering a variety of waste infrastructure projects in Australia. His global experience has led him to have developed strong relationships with the global supply chain that supports the delivery of infrastructure. With wide knowledge and expert understanding of strategic planning and business development of the UK, EU, ME and AUS waste markets, he has provided support to some of the UK’s largest waste companies at a strategic level, as well as providing pivotal support to SMEs. Currently directing the development and delivery of a large number of waste assets that range from small scale hazardous treatment facilities to large scale incineration projects. David has uniquely spent the most recent part of his career delivering the types of waste infrastructure that he was previously analysing. This provides an unprecedented perspective of the challenges that face developers, investors, EPC contractors and the global supply chain that are looking to support the deployment of UK waste infrastructure capable of meeting the needs of this complex sector. He has demonstrable experience of managing and resolving issues around feedstock and offtake agreements, planning and permitting and technical and market due diligence. David has also provided expert opinion on a number of technical and commercial disputes arising during the delivery of waste processing plants. His previous positions have allowed him to understand the key financial drivers for developers and investors, and also the drivers and commercial tensions that affect EPC contractors and the technical supply chain. He is an energetic negotiator and planner with operational experience at Director level. David’s experience provides owners, developers, private investors, equity groups and banks the assurance required to place critical funding to develop waste infrastructure.